Eliza Emoline BELL was my paternal 2nd great grandmother. The lineage goes from Eliza and her first husband, Samuel WILLIAMS, to their daughter, Bessie. Bessie is my paternal great grandmother. Every time I start to write a post about Eliza, I get derailed…badly. Every time. I’m pretty sure she hates me. But, I’m going to “try, try again”. I have written about her several times and you can find those posts here: We all have secrets Prosperity- Different Strokes for Different Folks Eliza Emoline Bell, Independence Girl
Mentioned in Luchadors, Lawmen, and the Lost
Eliza’s death date anniversary is 25 February 1934. As I’ve said before, every time I research her I feel like I’m on the verge of a huge breakthrough. Unfortunately, my research always falls short and I never quite make that breakthrough. So today, in the interest of keeping this blog moving along, I’m going to post her death certificate which is something I haven’t given you before. Additionally, I’ll go into some detail about her cause of death. You can have a copy of her death certificate for yourself by going to this link: https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1934/1934_00008036.PDF
A supplement to the original death certificate was also issued:
The best I can tell, the supplemental document was issued in order to add Eliza’s birthdate.
As you can see, Eliza’s cause of death was listed as Nephritis. Nephritis is an inflammation of the kidneys and can lead to kidney failure and, ultimately, death. Each different type of Nephritis has its own causes and since the doctor did not give any other detail, we will never know what type of Nephritis Eliza had. Thanks to the internet, we can review the different kinds and causes of acute nephritis though.
Interstitial Nephritis causes the spaces between the kidney tubules to be inflamed, thus causing the kidneys to swell. This type of nephritis is often caused by taking medications for long periods of time. This type can also be caused by low potassium or an allergic reaction to a medication.
Pyelonephritis is another type of Nephritis. It’s caused by a bacterial infection which often begins in the bladder and travels up the ureters into the kidneys. The bacterial infection starts from a type of E. Coli found in the large intestine. Other possible causes include the formation of kidney stones, surgery on the bladder/kidneys/ureters, or urinary exams using a tool called a cytoscope.
The last type of Nephritis listed at Healthline.com is Glomerulonephritis (historically known as Bright’s Disease). This type of acute Nephritis is an inflammation of the capillaries in the kidneys. The capillaries help filter the blood within the kidneys. The exact cause of this type of Nephritis is unknown but believed to be caused by immune deficiencies, cancer, and/or broken abscesses within your body.
People with increased risk of Nephritis include those with a family history of kidney disease/infection (that would be YOU, Drake family!), those with immune system diseases such as Lupus, those who overuse antibiotics or pain medications, and/or anyone having had recent surgery on the urinary tract.
How would your body tell you that you might have Nephritis? I’m glad you asked! Depending on the type of acute Nephritis you have, you might feel pain in your pelvic area or abdomen or kidney areas and pain or burning when you urinate. You may need to urinate frequently and your urine may be cloudy or contain blood or pus. You may experience swelling in body parts (frequently in the face, feet, and legs). You also may experience vomiting, fever, and/or high blood pressure. Nephritis is often accompanied by blood pressure and heart problems.
If you feel you may be having these symptoms be sure to make an appointment with your doctor right away. When you go, be sure to let the doctor know that there is a family history of kidney problems. This may be important for the doctor to know in order to run the right tests on you. Nephritis can be treated if you catch it early. On the flip side, if you let it go it can kill you or leave you on dialysis for the rest of your life.
Take care of you! There are people in this world who need you to be around for them.
Peace and health,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives
** Information for this post came from Healthline.com (see link above) and Missouri Digital Heritage (see link above).
This time last week we were celebrating Independence Day in the U.S.. I planned this post for that date but I was having internet problems last week. Eliza is the ancestor I was working on back on February when my posts got derailed. She is my paternal 2nd great grandmother. July is Eliza’s birthday month. Her death date anniversary was 25 February 1934. I’ve written about Eliza here with a follow-up to that post here and I published a photo here that I believe might be Eliza if you’d like to refresh your memory about her before going on.Eliza was born in Roubidoux, Texas County, Missouri in July of 1871.Her dad, Quincy, was 46 years old and her mom, Elizabeth (Quincy’s second wife) was 26 years old. Roubidoux doesn’t exist as an official place anymore but before it became a ghost town, it was located in the Salem Plateau region of the Ozarks at the confluence of the east and west forks of Roubidoux Creek, about 12 miles northwest of Houston, Missouri (the county seat). The above map shows the location of Roubidoux, Missouri. Their post office was established in 1850 and was in operation until 1953.The town was named after the creek but the creek was named after Joseph Robidoux, a French explorer.The township of Roubidoux does still exist and has since 1845 which happens to be the same year that Ashley County was renamed as Texas County, Missouri.Texas County was the largest county in Missouri and was named after the state of Texas which was the largest state in the Union. Before Eliza was born her dad fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy.Most men in Texas County were Confederates and were more concerned with the question of secession than that of slavery since there were very few slave owners in Texas County in the 1860’s. Eliza married at a very young 16 years old to Samuel Morris WILLIAMS.I haven’t yet found proof of what happened to Samuel but theories abound from the oft retold family story that he was killed by a train in 1905 to the theory that he abandoned Eliza and their children and ended up marrying another woman.In any case, Eliza had been single (or widowed) about 3 years when she married John Charles F. SNEARY in 1908.John was a local widower who had been married twice before he married Eliza.In 1910, John and Eliza were living at 1300 North Monroe Street in Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma. I wanted to give you a map so you could see where they lived but my internet still isn’t up to par so I’ll let you Google that on your own. Another interesting thing I found in the 1910 census is that Eliza said she had given birth to 11 children and only 9 were living at that time.My grandma always named 12 children that were born before 1910 and then she named one being born after 1910.I also have information saying that Eliza and John had a baby together.I think the two deceased children Eliza was referring to were the twins, Lorinzo Dall and William Sherman.I am uncertain what happened to Ruel, the baby born after Martin.He lived to at least age 2 when he was listed in a census entry in 1915 in the state of Kansas.I do know that in 1915, Ruel was censused with the last name of WILLIAMS even though family oral history says Eliza and Samuel were not together after 1905 and I have documentation showing that Eliza married John SNEARY in 1908.I suspect that Ruel was the baby that Eliza and John had together and that the census taker made a mistake.However, I have no proof of that.The family did live in Iola, Kansas in 1915 with Ruel and the other children and Ruel doesn’t show up on any more census entries with the family after that 1915 census.One additional fact is that their SNEARY baby is buried in Iola, Allen County, Kansas. When the SNEARY baby died, the family was living at 625 S Second St in Iola, Kansas. Again, I wanted to give you a map but the internet isn’t cooperating so you’ll have to Google that one on your own again. The last thing I recently discovered about Eliza was in a census entry that was taken when Eliza was about 5 years old.This census was an 1876 Missouri state census.It is the one piece of documentation that I can find that connects Eliza’s mom with the surname TYREE (spelled many different ways including TIRY).My grandma always gave four surnames for Eliza’s mom- TYREE, MOODY, STEVESON, and BELL with the BELL name being her married name from her marriage with my ancestor, Quincy BELL (Eliza’s dad). (Don’t forget there is also that pesky photo with the last name HENNIG that I believe may belong to this family!) I have never been certain which is a maiden name and which are married names or even if all these names belong to the same family. In any case, back to my discovery- the 1876 census showed a Mary A. TIRY living with Eliza’s mom.The census does not say whether Mary is Eliza’s half-sister, cousin, other relation, or no relation at all.I am assuming that Mary is closely related though since the TYREE name is a name associated with Eliza’s mom. Above, the 1876 Missouri state census showing a Mary A. TIRY living with Quincy and Emely BELLE (a misspelling of the BELL name). Over the 1910’s and 1920’s, John and Eliza moved around and slowly worked their way back to Upton Township in Texas County, Missouri where Eliza died in 1934.She is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Success, Texas County, Missouri with John SNEARY.My grandma always described John as a good man- very kind and loving- and a good grandpa to her.I’m glad to know that after a hard life full of loss that Eliza was able to end her life with a good man who took care of her and the children and grandchildren. Hopefully it won’t be much longer before I finally make a breakthrough on Eliza’s mom’s family and get all those names sorted out. Until next time, Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog
It’s the weekend! YAY! I haven’t been able to do much extra research for a couple of weeks now but I’m thankful for Becky who was able to do a little extra research this week and share it with us. Also, be sure to read to the end because there’s a big surprise at the end of the wrap-up! Sarah DAVIS REITER Becky and I are looking into whether or not Sarah was a midwife. We may never know definitively but we’re trying. Rebecca WORK, who was at two of the three births documented in my post earlier this week, was also recorded as being at other families’ births in the same locale. I’m fairly certain Rebecca was a midwife. My question comes in whether or not Sarah was a midwife or midwife-in-training (or neither).
Fold3 record showing Rebecca was present at the birth of Alice Hobbs.
Fold3 record from Becky- one of the records showing Rebecca was present at the delivery of the HOBBS children. Becky and I have also both questioned whether or not that is really Sarah on the 1870 Mortality schedule. Something’s going on- we’re just not sure what. There is a Sarah living with Nicholas and his children in 1880.
1880 Federal Census record for Nicholas and Sarah Riter family.
So the timeline goes like this: 1870 Mortality schedule- Sarah dies of consumption. 1870 Federal census- Nicholas and children are censused without Sarah. 1880 Federal census- Nicholas and children are censused with Nicholas’ wife, Sarah. So, is this a second wife named Sarah? Was Sarah, for some reason, mistakenly assumed dead or mistakenly censused as dead in 1870? We don’t’ know all the answers yet but we’re still looking so there may be a future update on Sarah. Lucille DEWITT WILLIAMS CULLOM and Mary McATEE WEDDING I have no updates yet on these two women. My husband’s Uncle Gerry is in the process of sending me copies of some records so there will, at some point, be an update on Lucille. For now, there is no new information to post. John WILLIAMS- I forgot him! When I posted the week’s schedule last Sunday I completely forgot to add in John WILLIAMS, my paternal 3rd great grandfather! John was born on this date in McKeesport, Illinois. You will never find this place on a map. I’m not sure where it is, actually. The information I have on his birth comes from his obituary and gravestone as well as this biographical piece in Historical Review of Arkansas: Its Commerce, Industry and Modern Affairs, Volume 3 by Fay Hempstead.
Biography of Edgar Williams, son of John Williams.
Biography of Edgar WILLIAMS, son of John WILLIAMS. John was “a highly respected citizen of Roubidoux” in Texas County, Missouri. This was reported by the local paper in 1904. (The Houston Herald, 8 Sep 1904) He must have been well acquainted with the folks at the newspaper office because there were quite a few times that the local paper reported in the gossip column that John had come into town (Houston) to do business. John was married at least three times. His son Samuel was my 2nd great grandfather and was John’s first known son by his first known wife. I say “known wife” loosely since I don’t have any idea what her name was. John professed his faith in Christ at age 20 and joined the Methodist Church. He had one child by each of his first two wives and eight children with his third wife. It is said that when John’s son Samuel (my 2nd great grandfather) married my 2nd great grandmother Eliza Emma BELL that John disowned him. The reason is not known. You can read more about John and this particular issue at my cousin Annie Blanchard’s blog, Digging Genealogy. That link will get you to all of Annie’s posts about John and his son Samuel and that branch of the family. Much of what I know about John comes from Annie’s blog posts and from two incredible obituaries (one for John’s wife Armazinda and one for John) written by John’s friends at The Houston Herald.
Armazinda Wallace Williams’ obituary.
Armazinda WALLACE WILLIAMS’ obituary (sorry for the quality- it was the best I could do). 20 August 1903 The Houston Herald, Houston, Missouri.
John Williams’ obituary from the Houston Herald 8 September 1904.
John WILLIAMS’ obituary. 08 September 1904 The Houston Herald, Houston, Missouri. I know that type is hard to read so here is a transcription of the article: “Death of John Williams. _____ God in His infinite wisdom has seen fit to remove from this earth Mr. John Williams, aged 64 years, 6 months, 22 days. He died Sept. 2, 1904; he was born in Illinois Feb. 11, 1840, and came to Missouri in 1869. He made a profession of faith in Christ at the age of 20 and united with the Methodist church. He lived a Christian life and a few weeks before his death he was baptized in the Christian church at Prairie Point [Texas County, Missouri]. “Uncle John, as he was commonly called, has been a sufferer from chronic bronchitis for the past eight years, but has been gradually growing worse the last two years. He was taken worse a few days ago and God relieved him Saturday morning at 10:50. His last hours seemed to be his happiest ones. He was married three times; 8 children resulted from his last union, all of whom are still living. During his life he accumulated a great deal of wealth and was very honest in all his dealings. He was industrious and his children have an example before them as to industry and serving God. He was ready and willing to go and did not fear death at any time. His wife preceded him to that better world about one year ago and was there waiting the coming of her loved one who was very lonely after the death of his companion. His sons and daughters are heart stricken as they are fatherless and motherless, which as w[e] all know is very sad indeed, yet we are born to die and our Lord knows best. He has led another dear one from this earth into the arms of rest. He is sweetly sleeping and his spirit has returned to the God that gave it. No more will his children hear his good words of advice, but all is silent; a place is vacant in their home. His chair can’t be placed for papa to sit down to rest again, for alas, he is at rest in Heaven; he is around the Great White Throne with the angels and has joined them forever. Dear ones, you can’t bring him back, but you can go to him. You have the blessed assurance of meeting him never more to part; you have two bright lights in Heaven awaiting your coming, which we hope to know you will prepare to do and that is to meet them over there. They are safe in the vale. They are sleeping in the bosom of God. During his illness everything that relatives and neighbors could do was done but the angel of death was the only reliever. Funeral services were conducted at Liberty graveyard Sept. 4th by Rev. Johnson. He delivered a very touching sermon to a very large crowd. Tears filled the eyes of all the attendants as they beheld the orphans that gathered round to take the last look at father. Now, to the bereaved ones I would say, weep not, for your loss is Heaven’s eternal gain. He is at rest and has left this unfriendly world. His home is above and not built by hands. Make preparations to meet him and rejoice of his being with his Savior. While this is a dark hour to you, remember, be still, sad hearts, and cease repining; behind the clouds the sun’s still shining; your fate is the common fate of all; late each life some rain must fall; some days must be dark and dreary. May God be with you is the prayer of Celia Neal.” That is quite an obituary! I don’t know that I’ve ever found a longer, more flowery obituary for any of my ancestors as Celia’s was for John WILLIAMS. Armazinda’s was equally long and flowery. I’d be happy to provide a transcription for hers if anyone wants it. Family, you can never say again that you didn’t have any wealthy ancestors. You’ve heard it from The Houston Herald yourself- John was wealthy, well-respected, and a pillar of the community! That’s your update for this week. I found an error while proofing this post but when I went back in to correct it later I couldn’t find it again, so you get a bonus error (probably more than one, truth be known!) with your blog post! Enjoy your weekend and be sure to come back tomorrow for next week’s schedule.
Today’s theme is ‘sky’. Think about that for a minute…because I’ve thought about it for 2 days! This is a tough one. It required some creativity. I’m going to present several stories, not a lot of proof, possibly some photos, and a little bit of “this is what I’ve been told”. I think you will enjoy it though. IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF BAD ACTING! – Eugene DRAKE and Bessie WILLIAMS LARKIN Eugene (“Gene”) and Audrey DRAKE were my grandparents and Bess was my great-grandmother. In the latter years of her life, Bessie lived with Gene and Audrey. Bess loved luchador-style wrestling- masks, theatrics, stage names- the whole nine yards. She loved it. And Gene? He loved antagonizing his mother-in-law! (It’s the DRAKE sense of humor- we kind of can’t help it!) Gene would let Bess turn on wrestling and then he’d start in on her about how it was all fake. She would retort that it was real and the fight was on. I don’t know how Gene really felt about the wrestling but I know he loved picking on Bess. The more he’d antagonize her the more riled up she’d get. My mom remembers times that she would be sitting on the couch next to Gene and he’d nudge mom with his elbow and very softly say, “Watch this.” Then he would start rooting for the wrestler that was opposing the one Bess was rooting for and he’d start smack-talking Bess’s wrestler. Mom said it would really get her going and Gene would be on the couch laughing the whole time.
My grandma Audrey (Larkin) Drake, her brother Ray Larkin, and her mom Bess (Williams) Larkin.
Photo of a photo of Bess LARKIN, Audrey DRAKE, and I think the guy is Ray LARKIN.
Portrait of Eugene and Audrey (Larkin) Drake.
Gene and Audrey DRAKE.
Blue Sky luchador mask.
Blue Sky luchador mask REACH FOR THE SKY, PILGRIM! – William DRAKE and John Beason DRAKE Remember Willard Drake who went to Leavenworth? William was his dad and my 3rd great-grandfather. William is said to have been a law enforcement officer at Oak Grove, Oklahoma. (Information supplied by Kerry Langstaff.) I haven’t been able to verify that. I do know that I’m not aware of William living near Oak Grove, Oklahoma but he did live close to Oak Grove, Missouri in 1870. I’m still trying to find some kind of proof for his work as a Constable or Deputy. John Beason DRAKE was William DRAKE’s grandson (son of Poppy Lon- my 2nd great-grandfather). John was an officer in Southwest City, Missouri.
Thin Blue Line flag.
DISAPPEARED INTO THIN AIR! – Bessie WILLIAMS LARKIN’s Family is Gone Like Yesterday! My final short short story is about Bess’s family. I’m hoping that someone will find some information about them. Bess’s family has been so hard to trace. Her maiden name is WILLIAMS. Add that to the fact that she was married multiple times and then add to that commonplace first names and you’ve got a recipe for going nowhere fast! Over the past three decades I’ve been able to identify Bess’s dad and paternal grandfather but it’s been tough going and it’s only been recently that I’ve been able to find information about them beyond names. The WILLIAMS’ are still very much a mystery to me. Bess’s mom’s last name is BELL. It’s still a fairly common name and the problem with a last name like BELL is that it was also a common first and middle name as well as a noun (as in “ring the bell”). All of those things add up to another very difficult family to research. I have identified Bess’s mom, maternal grandparents, and one set of maternal great-grandparents but have not been able to identify anyone in her line beyond that. So just in case y’all feel like doing a little research, Bess’s parents are Samuel Morris WILLIAMS born April, 1864 in Illinois. Up until this year I believed he had died in 1905. That’s what Mam (Audrey) told me and that was the accepted family history among older family members. However, this year I discovered information indicating he did not, in fact, die but rather ran off and left his wife and kids. Samuel’s dad was John WILLIAMS (1840-1904). Bess’s mom was Eliza Emoline BELL (born July, 1871 in Roubidoux, Texas, Missouri and died in 25 February 1934 in Upton, Texas, Missouri). Eliza’s parents were Quincy Adam BELL (1825-1902) and Emily MOODY BELL (born in Missouri) OR Elizabeth Emoline STEPHENSON (1844-1897) (I’m not sure which one or they might even be the same person). Quincy’s parents were John BELL (1795-1848) and Sarah HARDIN (1806-1896). I would love for you all to join in the search. One additional thing. I’d love for you all to consider taking a DNA test to contribute to advancing the family genealogy. If you’re interested but have questions, message me and I’ll be glad to help if I can. I just ordered my test a few days ago and I’m looking forward to getting my results.
Genealogy is like a big puzzle. Each of us has a piece- or pieces if we’re lucky- that we can share with each other. It’s midnight. I really should be sleeping. Instead, I want to share some puzzle pieces with you before I call it a night. Recently, Annie Blanchard contacted me via Ancestry to talk about our common connection. You may remember Annie. I linked up to her Digging Genealogy blog in this post about Samuel Williams. Samuel’s father is mine and Annie’s common ancestor. Annie had puzzle pieces I didn’t have. (THANK YOU, ANNIE!) Specifically, she had a letter written by John WILLIAMS’ third wife (her ancestor; his first wife was my ancestor). She posted this letter along with a transcription of it on her blog. I read through the letter. Thought on it for a couple of days. (It’s book fair time at school so finding time to even think about the letter long enough to process it is hard.) Then this evening I got back to the letter and re-read it. I always find something new when I take the time to read it again after letting it settle in for a bit. I began to be very interested in the various people she mentioned in her letter. Some of them were relatives and Annie had done a good job of keeping track of those people but my ever-curious mind wanted to know about the OTHER people. (Surely you remember that particular bent of mine from my notoriously long 2 part post on Nicholas REITER, right??) In any case, here I am hours later to let you know what I found. I was plugging along looking up each name trying to match up Mr. FOSTER with the most likely FOSTER listed in the records (or Mrs. CROSBY, or “old man LINGO”, etc.). And then I got to the name of Fannie HERRINGTON. I plugged her name into the Ancestry search engine and got quite a shock. Fannie was widowed and her second husband was…SAMUEL WILLIAMS! I thought, “Surely NOT!” So I dug around a little more. It’s possible that this really is MY Samuel WILLIAMS, but I don’t know for sure.
Marriage license for Samuel Williams and Mrs. Fannie Herrington.
Let’s Reason This Out 1. According to Annie’s information, Samuel was disowned by his father when he married my ancestor, Eliza Emeline BELL (also known as Emma or Emeline in some records) because John (Samuel’s father) didn’t like her. 2. Samuel and Eliza had a hard life together. If you recall, they averaged a loss of one significant person in their lives every 1 1/2 years. Some people even speculated that Samuel committed suicide as opposed to his death being an accident. 3. Timeline: 12 August 1903- Armazinda WILLIAMS, the woman who had raised Samuel since he was 8 years old, passed away. 1903-1904- Fannie HERRINGTON was a widow living near Samuel’s dad (John WILLIAMS) in Upton Township, Texas County, Missouri. Samuel and Eliza WILLIAMS were a married couple living in next-door Roubidoux Township, Texas County, Missouri. Late-May/Early-June, 1904- Eliza became pregnant with hers and Samuel’s last child, Mart. 6 September 1904- Samuel’s dad, John, died. 2 October 1904- Samuel WILLIAMS and Fannie HERRINGTON get married. February, 1905- Samuel and Eliza’s last child, Mart, was born. 1905- Family oral history states that sometime around the 1904-1905 timeframe, Samuel was hit and killed by a train. You may also recall that I have not found one single source of information that backs up that story. No juicy newspaper article, no obituary…I can’t even find his grave. So conceivably, he could have impregnated Eliza, faked his own death, and then married Fannie HERRINGTON in October of 1904. Alternatively, maybe Samuel and Fannie somehow became romantically involved, Eliza found out so he and Eliza split up, and in order to satisfy Eliza’s religious family they made up the story that he was killed rather than face the social shame of a divorce or of everyone knowing their personal business. As I said before- I’m not sure it’s the same Samuel WILLIAMS. There were other men with the same name in that general area at that time. (If you’ve tried finding someone with the last name Williams, Smith, or Jones you understand completely what my dilemma is here.) I’d love for you to chime in with your thoughts on the matter. Was he really killed? Or did he fake it so he could finally satisfy his dad even though his dad had already died? Sometimes regret does funny things to our decision-making skills. I’ll definitely be trying to follow up on any leads. Hopefully Annie will have some ideas of her own when I tell her all about this tomorrow. Oh wait…it IS already tomorrow. Well- later today I’ll let her know and then I’ll pass any new information on to you. For now, it’s 1:15 a.m. and I’m tired. Now that I’ve got all this off my chest, I think I’ll go to bed.
This week’s theme is “different” meaning someone who is your polar opposite, someone who acted or reacted differently than you would have, etc. I couldn’t think of anyone more polar opposite of me than my great-grandmother, Bessie WILLIAMS STEELEY LARKIN LANCASTER FORDEN. (There are a couple of surnames left out. My apologies to the at-least-two fellas whose names can’t be remembered.) Talk about the apple falling far from the tree- I didn’t think I was much like Bessie at all. I was 10 years old when my great-grandma passed away. What I remember of her is based totally on memories that are 30+ years old. Those memories are also memories of a 10 year old- someone with little life experience on which to base her observations and an understanding that was limited to what adults would let her know (or not know) based on age.
The Bessie I Knew What I remember of Bessie is that she didn’t have a middle name. She chewed tobacco. She adored and was extremely serious about WWF-style wrestling. She was superstitious to the extreme and was also very serious about that. She had long hair that she wore in a bun for as long as I can remember. She seemed ancient to me although she was only 78 when she died. She seemed rough toward the other great-grandkids but I always felt like I was her favorite and thought she was nicer to me than to the others. (Maybe all her great-grandkids felt this way, I don’t know.) She always made handmade Christmas presents and I still have the last homemade Christmas gift I remember her giving me. My most vivid memory of her had to have happened not long before her death when she lived with my grandparents. I was walking around my Mam’s house with one shoe on and one shoe off and I walked in front of Bessie. She came unglued!! She yelled at me to get that shoe off my foot and didn’t I know that bad things would happen to me if I walked with one shoe on and one shoe off?!?! Scared me to death. I wasn’t really a superstitious person but neither did I want to tempt fate so I took off that shoe until I found the other one. A couple of days later I hit my head on the corner of a cabinet door I had left open and my head started bleeding and all I could think about was the bad luck she predicted because I walked with one shoe on and one shoe off.
The Bessie Others Knew
Bess (Williams) Larkin.
A young Bessie WILLIAMS LARKIN (with short hair!).
I felt like I really didn’t know Bessie very well so I called on various people to tell me what they knew about her. This is what I learned about Bess as an individual and as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother. Bess was born just after the turn of the century in August of 1901. She grew up in an extremely poor family. When she was about four years old, her father- Samuel Williams- was killed by a train near Cabool, Missouri. Bess had 13 (possibly 14) siblings. I was told that there were such age differences in the siblings that it was almost like two different sets of siblings and some of the older and younger siblings really didn’t grow up together or know each other well. The year prior to Bess’s birth, twin boys were born to her mom and those babies died before Bess was born. When Bess was 16, she lost her brother, Bennie. At ages 36 and 37, she lost her sister Sarah and her brother Hosea (whom the family called “Hose”). In her 50’s she would lose her sister “Ide” (Ida) and her brother Jahu. Eight years before her own death, she would lose her brother Mart (Martin). There were other siblings but I don’t know when they died, except for Aunt Eule (Eula). To my knowledge, Aunt Eule was the last surviving sibling and she died in 1996. Before she died, my dad, Mam, Aunt Carol, and I took a trip to see Aunt Eule and we interviewed her. I will try to get that interview transcribed soon and post it. If I can, I will post some audio as well so everyone can hear Eule. She was quite a character. Many of the WILLIAMS siblings moved away to other parts of the country. Just this past week I spoke with two daughters of Bessie’s brother, Mart. One lives in the Bakersfield, CA area and the other lives in the Sebring, FL area. With 13 siblings, it’s no surprise the family is spread out from one coast to the other. Many of the siblings and their families spent time overseas due to being in the military. Studies have shown that families in extreme poverty place a high value on being able to entertain others because sometimes the only form of entertainment they can afford is each other. True to this fact, Bessie was a person who could entertain. She was talkative, loud, boisterous, and outgoing. She could play the guitar and harmonica very well and taught all of her children that were interested in learning to play the guitar.
Carl Larkin.
Here is Bessie’s son, Uncle Carl, playing his guitar. I can remember Carl playing his guitar at my son’s third birthday party. He played Hit the Road Jack. My son sang that song for years and “played” it on his toy guitar.) Bessie knew all the old Irish songs and played and sang them all the time. Bessie never met a stranger. I surely wish someone had a recording of her playing and singing because I don’t ever remember hearing her sing or play. Bess was always superstitious but my dad says so was everyone else at that time. She didn’t let people open umbrellas in the house and if someone handed someone else an open knife, it was promptly refused and the person had to close it before handing it back again because it would bring bad luck if you accepted an open knife. Bess’s first marriage was at age 13. She married Otis STEELEY. They were only married for a day or two and then they managed to get the marriage annulled. My great-grandpa, Ralph LARKIN, was working for Bessie’s dad around that time. He one day announced to everyone that he would be marrying Bessie and when she turned 16, they married. Ralph was an ultra-religious Pentecostal Holiness. Bessie was “rough”, talked “like a sailor”, and didn’t go to church. Ralph managed to get her turned around but even then she was an “irreverant Christian” as described by one of her grandsons. Ralph and Bessie had 10 children. Ralph was very strict and several of his children didn’t like that. When their children were old enough several moved away from home and didn’t go back. After Ralph’s death, Bess married several more times. She married a man from Joplin, Missouri; a man named Jim who lived in Grove, Delaware County, Oklahoma; Palmer LANCASTER; and Bill FORDEN. Bessie lived in several places throughout her life. As a child and living with her family in extreme poverty, they lived on the river in Kansas City- a very rough area of the city. Also in her childhood she lived in Texas County, Missouri in the towns of Success and Roubidoux. After her dad died and her mom remarried, she lived in Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma. At age 14 she lived in Iola, Allen County, Kansas. The following year the family was living in the Picher-Cardin, Ottawa County, Oklahoma area where Ralph found work in the lead and zinc mines. In the late 1910’s and throughout the 1920’s they bounced back and forth between Roubidoux, Missouri, and the Miami-Picher, Oklahoma area. In the 1930’s they bounced back and forth between Upton, Texas County, Missouri and Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma. By 1940 they were living in Beaty, Delaware County, Oklahoma. Since I don’t have census records available to me after 1940, I can’t tell you all the places she lived after that but I know she lived in Delaware County when she died. Her doctor was in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas and that is where her official place of death is. My dad told me that after Ralph got sick with black lung disease from working in the mines, his doctor told him to move to Arizona where the climate was drier. This was a common recommendation from doctors at that time. So Ralph and Bessie moved to Arizona for a year or two but both of them hated it and they moved back to the Delaware County, Oklahoma/McDonald County, Missouri area before Ralph died. When my dad was young, he and his 3 siblings were four out of eight grandchildren that lived close to Bessie and were able to visit her frequently. (The others lived too far away to visit often.) He felt that Bessie doted on them and loved them and was very affectionate with them. She always wanted them to come over. They would walk a half mile down the road (the Poynor School road for those of you familiar with that area) from their house to her house after school. They would visit her, eat some of her good cooking, and then make another half mile trek west to their Grandma DRAKE’s home and visit her. I love knowing they were able to do that. It brought back fond memories of when we lived close enough to my husband’s parents that our then-3-year-old son could walk through the back yard and to his grandparents’ home for snacks or meals or visits and hugs. Dad said when they went to Bess’s house she always had food or cooked them food and she was a good cook. Breakfast was always pancakes and if anyone got eggs it was only for grandpa. For other meals, she cooked cornbread and beans; soup; anything she could use her garden vegetables in; she fixed turnips although he didn’t much care for those; fried cabbage; salads with wild greens including sour dock, lamb’s quarters, chickweed and dandelion leaves; poke greens fried in bacon grease; and lots of wild edibles. She had to know how to use wild edibles because the family was so poor. Bess and my grandma Audrey always had the pressure cooker going all summer long canning whatever they could from wild edibles to garden harvests to whatever they were given or could find. On Friday nights before grandpa Ralph got sick, he would come home from work and he and Bess would make dough balls for bait, pack up, and go to Grand Lake for the weekend and fish from Friday night to Monday morning. Grandpa would get up Monday morning and go straight to work and grandma Bess would come home. They fished for what my dad considered to be “trash fish” including carp, buffalo fish, and drum fish. Whatever they caught, Bess would pressure can (bones and all) during the week. Grandpa Mark DRAKE would always tell dad to be sure to tell Grandma Bess to can some fish for him and Grandma Bess would can him some fish and send them over. Dad said the canned fish tasted really good. She also pressure canned mixed greens- meaning any wild edibles she could find growing. Basically, anything that was wild and edible they would eat or can to eat later. Grandpa Ralph and Grandma Bess also always kept a barrel of brine pickles on hand. My dad loved them because they were crisp and salty. He said he could take a fork and fork one out any time he wanted one but if grandma caught him sticking his bare hands in to get one he got in trouble.My dad said Bessie and Ralph had the worst luck with houses Several homes they lived in burned. In one four year period they had two houses in a row burn. The houses were across the road from each other. Because of this they seemed to be constantly starting over from scratch and it was very difficult for them. He remembers the interior of the house that burned down. He said it had no ceiling, just bare rafters and once when Uncle Mart came to visit Bess, he was taking medication and put the medication up on top of the rafters by the roof. He said he was told Mart had Tuberculosis and that he was taking medication for that. Another thing he remembers is that grandma Bess loved Hollyhocks and had huge ones growing all around her house. He doesn’t know why but says he didn’t like the Hollyhocks at all. He could not remember if there was a particular color that was her favorite. She had a huge variety of colors of Hollyhocks. He remembers Bess and Audrey washing laundry in the back yard of one of the burned houses. They had a tub and an old wringer washer. They would wash out the clothes in a tub and then put them through the wringer. They would then turn around and make lye soap in the same tub they washed clothes in. They lye soap was used to wash everything- clothes, skin, etc. The lye soap was made using beef tallow and ashes and he said it was very good for their skin. After grandma Bess came to live with my grandparents Gene and Audrey, she never complained about being sick. She and my grandpa Gene had ongoing rivalries over wrestling being fake and overrated. Bess was pretty healthy until she slipped and fell in the bathtub. She twisted her colon and got gangrene. The doctor didn’t realize she had gangrene and by the time he figured it out it was too late and she died. My dad described her overall disposition as being a happy one. He remembers her being a very fun and loving grandmother and very smart. She had a linoleum floor in one of her houses and when it was waxed, it had to also be buffed. After waxing, the linoleum was very slick. So when it was time to buff the floor, grandma Bess threw rags down on the floor and told the kids to get on them and slide. Grandma got her floor buffed and the kids had a great time doing it and didn’t realize they were doing grandma’s work for her. (I seriously can’t imagine my dad buffing the floor like this as a child. lol) My conversations with others about Bessie WILLIAMS LARKIN were very enlightening. I learned about a Bess that I never knew. The more people talked about her, the more I realized that some apples really do fall close to the tree- even if they don’t know how close they stay. I may not chew twist tobacco and while I might find it fun to go see luchadors wrestle once just for fun with my brother Jared, it’s definitely not something I’m into. I am not THAT superstitious (never mind that just this week I picked up a penny on heads in the parking lot and recited to myself, “Find a penny, pick it up. All the day you’ll have good luck.”). For the past few years I’ve been learning what I can about wild edibles and I started canning when I was in my late 20’s/early 30’s. And nevermind my long hair that just today I wore in a bun…now what was I saying about apples and how far they fall from trees? Yeah… The Bess my dad knew doesn’t seem like the Bess I knew and I’m so glad I got a chance to hear these stories and get to know her from a grandchild’s perspective. Because don’t we all love grandma’s and their fabulous cooking? This post has really presented her to me as a real person and I love that. I wish I had known then what I know now. I could have learned all my wild edibles knowledge from her and been so much better at it by now. It’s probably a good thing there aren’t time machines. I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Bess. The next time you’re tempted to think you are totally opposite from an ancestor, try to remember that “the apple” really doesn’t fall that far from the tree. You may be more like them than you know. Don’t forget to click on over to my sister-in-law’s blog post this week about the old country doctor that cared for her family at http://downintherootcellar.blogspot.com/2015/03/last-weeks-52-ancestors-blog-prompt-was.html. You can also check out blogs of friends at https://recipesfromlena.wordpress.com/…/100-years-ago-today/ and https://theologyformom.wordpress.com/.
